The Heart's Truth
by misfire ezreal
Summary: Marineith is apprenticed to Egypt's greatest physician by day and joins Tikki to fight Akuma at night. But Queen Ankhesenamun's health is deteriorating, despite her teacher's best efforts, and even more importantly, she has a love confession to make to a certain black cat. Past Egyptian Ladybug/Cat Noir. For day 4 of ML Staff Appreciation Week. (Summary updated.)
1. Chapter 1

**The Heart's Truth**

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for ML Staff Appreciation Week: Day Four

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Chapter One

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She was used to the biting heat of the sun blazing down on her head and shoulders when she stood still, and the sand that found its way into every minute crevice of exposed skin when she moved. Such was the life of a common-born Egyptian girl who worked the fields with her poor parents along the banks of the Nile. As a young girl, she had pulled weeds from between the crops she had helped seed the ground with, and come the end of the seasons, she trailed behind after her father's shadow, holding baskets for him to fill with the harvest. The sun was unrelenting: it seared down, and burned her skin with its scorching heat; sometimes her throat became so parched that she couldn't speak without a rasp in her normally high, bright voice. The only reprieve from the sun was dipping into the Nile river's cool, blue-green banks, bordered with tall, wild reeds and grasses.

Stepping into the river was like stepping into another world: its murky waters were filled with all sorts of peculiar creatures, and the reeds were just tall enough to block out the view of the fields of crops. The air was more moist than out among the crops and sand, the mud cool and slick against her toes. She used to spend as much of her afternoons splashing along the riverbanks as possible, always bringing beetles and frogs to her parents to ask about them. What did they do? Why were they there, hiding in the shallow parts of the Nile? Were they going to eat the crops and ruin the harvest? Her parents told her what they could about them, and when they had no answers, they instead recounted stories of Gods and Goddesses who were associated with the creatures. Fish: Hatmehyt, Goddess of shimmering scales and wispy fins. Cobra: Wadjet, Goddess of quick strikes and ink-stained papyrus. Scarab: Khepri, God of fluttering wings and setting suns. All of life was possible because of the Nile: Anuket, Goddess of gentle waves and flooded fields.

When Marineith complained that she thought the Nile was greater than the blazing heat she dealt with daily, her parents admonished her. The Goddess of flaming noontime, Sekhmet, was a fickle Goddess, and insulting her might bring bad luck. This did nothing to sway Marineith's opinions; when she danced in the muddy banks of Anuket's river, she prayed that Sekhmet's power would wane, so that when she went into the fields, she wouldn't dry up like yellowed grass, flimsy and pale and burnt by Anuket's hot sunlight.

Growing up, her only way of escaping the unrelenting heat was a few brief moments to wash away the golden sand caking her feet and limbs from going back and forth in the fields of crops. (Not that washing it away really mattered in the long run, anyway; it would all come creeping back the next day, just like the sun would once more crawl back along the clear, blue skies to shine overbearingly from high above.)

Marineith thought, with no little amount of envy, how terrifically _lucky_ the Egyptian nobility were to have tall, solid roofs above their heads to block out the sun's unwavering heat on hot, summer afternoons, and fine, sturdy sandals meant to keep the sharp, hot sand from catching in between their toes.

The cotton cloth of her palace training garbs and the added weight of expensive jewelry against her skin only further confirmed her thoughts: palace life was infinitely better than simple farm life. Marineith's parents still tended to the fields of her childhood home along the Nile, but they grew older and more frail by the day, less able to work as hard for as long beneath the blaring sun. She was determined to take care of them; they were two good, kind people who deserved far better than what their lot was in life. Marineith was almost comically terrible at tending to crops and livestock. But she was also surprisingly intelligent; she learned to make poultices from the local herbalists in the area, had been taught to read and write by a palace scribe who was impressed by her desire to learn more about medicinal herbs.

It was through this scribe that she had eventually become apprenticed to the royal physician three years ago, when she had just turned eleven. Merit Ptah was one of the most accomplished physicians in all of Egypt.

And she was going to be very angry if Marineith arrived late to her afternoon lesson today. She hurried her steps, sandals clacking loudly against the stone floors of the palace. The sound echoed around the large halls and tall roofs just slightly, but it was enough to bother Marineith. The _tack, tack, tack_ that sandals made against polished stones still sounded unfamiliar to her ears, even after years of spending time within the Pharaoh's palace grounds. She did her best to tune it out, though, focusing instead on putting one foot in front of the other as fast as she possibly could.

Today, Marineith would finally treat a patient with Merit Ptah evaluating rather than instructing her, and Marineith was _thrilled._ She was _absolutely_ ready to prove herself to her master. Merit Ptah would watch while Marineith treated the patient, and only when Marineith deemed she was done with the patient would her master step in to fill in any blanks left by her pupil. (Marineith had exactly _zero_ intentions of letting Merit Ptah say anything afterwards besides, "Good job, Marineith, I think you're finally ready to travel the world as a fully-trained physician without me worrying you'll make us both look bad by accidentally killing someone. _"_ ) She had worked tirelessly for _years_ for the opportunity being offered to her today.

It was just her luck that an Akuma had decided to attack right when Marineith had sat down for lunch. It burst into the room, upturned the table holding her lunch, and demanded that all of Egypt should fight against the invading Persians. Marineith followed others as they ran from the room, but she ducked into a servant's corridor and transformed. Cat Noir popped up just as she used her Lucky Charm, saving her the trouble of distracting the Akuma long enough to piece together how to use a _fan of reeds_ to best an armor-clad, spear-wielding, chariot-riding Akuma. But all in all, she and Cat finished the job pretty quickly. But even so, it meant that now Marineith was scrambling to find her instructor on an empty stomach. Which she'd had to do before, of course, under similar circumstances.

But not on the _most important day of her entire life._

She made her way quickly towards the northern end of Merit Ptah's palace, which connected to the adjacent General's palace. These walls, as all things Egyptian, belonged to the Pharaoh; the entire inner city was his, technically. But his subordinates and fellow nobles and courtesans also lived in close proximity to him, and were granted ownership of certain properties surrounding the Pharaoh's palace. Her master's grounds were one such example; they connected to the General's quarters as well, as they both hailed from the same family. Their lands were expansive, and if Marineith hadn't made it a point to become acquainted with all of the Pharaoh's amassed palace grounds, she might have stayed within Merit Ptah's and the General's palaces forever and never have wanted for anything else. It was only because she was chosen as Ladybug to protect the people of Egypt that she had done any exploring outside at all.

Merit Ptah's palace consisted of tall limestone walls and floors and simple decor inside. Merit Ptah was not one for lavish decorations; she had started her career as a young traveling physician, making her way all the way across the Ionian sea before returning with her increased medical knowledge (and a foreign lover, surprising her family greatly.) After impressing all of Egypt with her expertise, she finally settled down as one of the Pharaoh's own select physicians. Meanwhile, Merit Ptah's brother Ahmose had made a name for himself fighting valiantly against Persian invasions, and had been promoted to General of the Pharaoh's forces. Reflecting his love of flashy battles, perhaps, his palace was far less reserved than that of his sister: brightly-dyed tapestries and rugs brought color and life to his home, along with the abundance of children and servants running around all the time.

Marineith found herself relieved when she reached Ahmose's palace, alight with laughter and conversation. It drowned out the sounds of her sandals, and also meant she was closer to reaching today's patient: Ahmose's oldest son, about seven years old. Marineith did not know what he was sick with, but if she had to guess, it would probably be a stomachache. Last night, the General had thrown an extravagant party, and his son had been allowed to partake in the festivities. (Marineith had politely bowed out early to catch some extra sleep before her big day.) The boy was young and loved to eat rich foods, so Marineith had a feeling he had probably just indulged in a little too many portions of fine meats. Still, Merit Ptah had drilled it into her brain over and over to never diagnose a patient before actually seeing and observing them in person; so she hurried her steps, heading to the boy's room to the eastern wing of the palace.

She was halfway to the patient's quarters when she turned a corner too sharply and ran straight into someone. The impact sent her reeling, and she took a few steps back to steady herself again, eyes wide as she looked up at who she'd nearly barreled down in her rush.

Startlingly green eyes stared back into her own.

"Marineith! Just the girl I've been looking for."

Oh, Gods, _not now._ She couldn't deal with _this_. She had a patient to see to. Merit Ptah would not forgive her for being even a _second_ late to a scheduled treatment like this one. Right now, she could not afford a blond-haired, green-eyed _distraction_ of a man _._

"Not now, Adrestus," she said in her most dismissive voice, tearing her gaze from his captivating ones and sidestepping him.

"No, wait, hang on," he replied hastily, easily keeping pace with her while she tried to walk away. She chanced a glance at him and found a wide grin on his face. _Ugh._ "You're going the wrong way."

She paused in her movement forward to fix him with a sharp glare. He put his hands up in a placating gesture.

"I know where the General's family quarters are," Marineith said with a huff. In the back of her mind, she registered that she probably (okay, scratch that, _definitely_ ) sounded like a whining child who hadn't gotten her afternoon snack (which wasn't wrong, exactly,) but she shoved the thought aside. "I'm not _stupid._ "

"I never said you were," Adrestus said, smile falling away to be replaced by a frown. "Please listen to me, Marineith." His tone unnerved Marineith. Adrestus _always_ had a smile on his face, even when she snapped at him for his snarky comments; if he wasn't wearing one, it was still audible in his lilting, baritone voice. She felt a creeping unease settle over her, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something was suddenly _wrong_.

"Why are you here?" she asked him, voice gentler.

Adrestus took a deep breath, like he was trying to stand firm after being rattled by something, and it confirmed to her that something was amiss, because very few things rattled Adrestus. By the time he spoke, her unease had turned into full-blown concern.

"My mother told me to come get you," he said. "She says there's a change of plans. She already treated the kid during the Akuma attack." Adrestus hesitated, and Marineith felt her own breathing constrict as he took another deep breath, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, they were somber. His voice was grave when he continued. "The queen's condition worsened this morning."

* * *

 **Hi. Happy Day Four of ML Staff Appreciation Week! I've been working on this for about a week now. Hopefully I'll have most of the story published by the end of the day, but I might not, since it's Thanksgiving... But anyways. Happy Turkey Day!**

 **xoxoPigTails**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Heart's Truth**

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for ML Staff Appreciation Week: Day Four

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Chapter Two

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"You did not have to come."

Marineith hesitated at the dark archway, torchlight flickering in her blue eyes, but then she stepped through it, sandals clicking sharply against stone. The lighting was dim this deep inside of the Pharaoh's grand palace, lit only by the intricately-carved torches lining the hallways and the equally detailed candles set up inside the room.

"Is there anything I can do to help, master?" she asked, ignoring her teacher's previous statement. Marineith took in the room's appearance: tall ceiling, as was to be expected in any wealthy Egyptian home, with colorful hieroglyphics decorating the walls, depicting tales of past kings and queens of Egypt and their legacies. In such dim lighting, the colors were subdued, and the letters impossible to make out. Pressed against a wall to her right was a large bed, propped high and drowning in rich linen covers and drapes. And in the center of the bed lay the great Queen herself, her usually tall form quite still. Queen Ankhesenamun was renowned for her beauty and grace, but in the dark lights, she looked far too pale and thin than could be considered healthy. After watching her for a few moments, Marineith caught the steady rise and fall of her chest, surprisingly stable for someone who was supposed to be in such a terrible state.

Despite the bright, warm fires flickering all around her, Marineith couldn't help but shiver.

Merit Ptah sat on the edge of the bed, gently holding the Queen's hand, but as Marineith started to move closer, she stood, placing the Queen's hand softly on the bed and adjusting the covers on her body before turning to face her pupil. Merit Ptah's eyes were strikingly bright against the dimness of the room, fiery honey-flicked gold reflecting candlelight as she gestured to the hallway.

"No, Marineith," she replied. "There is nothing you can offer that I have not already seen to. But it was good of you to join me. Come," she said, placing her hand on Marineith's back and guiding her pupil out of the room, "Let us walk, and leave the Queen to her rest. It is much needed."

They exited under the archway of the Queen's room and headed down the hallway together in relative silence besides the sounds of their sandals clicking against the ground. Marineith trailed slightly behind Merit Ptah, leaving it to her teacher to lead the way. Like the Queen's room, the hallways were also adorned with hieroglyphics, and these Marineith could read clearly: stories of the Gods, the tales they left to the people of Egypt to pass on through generations.

She caught sight of Sekhmet's name, the tell-tale symbol of the midday sun in blood-red paint automatically drawing Marineith's eye. Marineith saw the beginnings of a description of the Goddess' wrath, and then she looked away.

The hall veered sharply to the right, and then became a set of stairs leading downwards. It was only when they reached these stairs that Merit Ptah stopped dead in her tracks, eyes glancing along the wall as if intrigued by something on it.

"The former Queen's name was your namesake, yes?" she asked. "Merineith, the mother of our Pharaoh?" Marineith blinked, surprised by the turn of the conversation, but nodded.

"Yes," she answered. "One summer, she extended a blessing to all children born in Egypt, and the next crop season, I was brought into the world." She smiled, memories of reed-guarded Nile banks brushing against her mind like a breeze against fields of grass. "It was an easy birth, my mother said. My parents were grateful to the Queen for her blessing, so they named me in her honor."

 _So that good fortune will always follow in your wake, as it did when you were born_ , her mother used to tell her every night as she tucked her into bed.

"Mm," Merit Ptah hummed. Her fingers reached out and traced a word; Marineith saw it was another red-colored symbol of Sekhmet's. "My son was also born that year." Merit Ptah's fingers skimmed along the text lining the wall, as if reading. "The blessing was issued to all of Egypt, but the Queen meant it specifically for my husband and I, so that Adrestus might be born safely. When she passed away three years later, I still felt as if I hadn't expressed my gratitude enough." She paused, her finger coming to rest for a moment against the wall. "Adrestus' father did not understand how honored I was by the former Queen's gesture. In his homeland, the leader of the people is not a God, nor his wives Goddesses, or his children Gods. They are only mortal men."

Marineith thought about Adrestus, who looked so much like his mother, with strong, broad shoulders and tall stature and long, graceful features; even the upturn of his lips and the breathy start of his laughter were Merit Ptah's.

But his hair was blond, the color of sun-crisped reeds, and his eyes were green, with only flecks of his mother's honey colored eyes dabbled inside his own. Those features alone marked him as descended from a foreigner; few Egyptians had such green-colored eyes.

After a few moments, Marineith spoke."Even our godly Pharaoh is mortal," she said gently.

Merit Ptah's eyes stared long and hard at Marineith. The force of the gaze made Marineith want to squirm or fidget the way she used to when she first started as a student under Merit Ptah, but she refrained from doing so, and stared fearlessly right back into her master''s golden eyes.

"So he is," Merit Ptah said finally, before she returned her attention to the wall. She tapped it twice.

"The blessings of the Gods are written here," she said. "Not all of them are things the Pharaoh or his scribes could properly understand. These here are Sekhmet's teachings." Her finger traced a few lines. "These are words addressed only to practitioners of the art of medicine." Merit Ptah turned away from the hieroglyphs on the walls, turning to fix her student with a serious expression.

"Sekhmet is also a Goddess of Death." Merit Ptah's eyes glanced down the hallway, towards the Queen's quarters, and Marineith had to repress another shiver. "The Goddess who gives us the power to cure does not extend the gift of life for everyone. She is also wrathful and destructive."

Marineith's throat was unusually dry.

"Queen Ankhesenamun..." she started, words barely above a whisper.

Merit Ptah's eyes were steely, and her voice sharp, when she cut her student off.

"We should not linger here." Merit Ptah stepped quickly forward, going down the stairs, and after collecting her thoughts and casting a final glance towards the wall bearing Sekhmet's symbol and another to the dimly-lit archway of the Queen's room before following her master.

* * *

She was grateful when she found Adrestus was still loitering outside the palace doors. His features perked up when he caught sight of his mother and her student leaving the Pharaoh's palace, and grinned widely. Seeing his smile made dark, looming thoughts disappear from the forefront of her mind.

"It's been too long," he said, sliding into step beside Marineith. "I missed you both."

"I wasn't even gone for more than a few minutes," Marineith said, mock exasperation in her voice.

"You were gone for quite a while, actually," Adrestus said, sighing and placing a hand over his heart. "Those were the longest thirty-two minutes of my life."

"You _timed_ me?" Marineith asked, slightly appalled.

"I see someone has been neglecting his studies," Merit Ptah said, her voice taking on a warmer quality that Marineith had only ever heard her extend to those close to her. "I thought I raised a smarter boy than that."

Adrestus laughed. "I finished lessons early today," he said. "There's only so much you can re-teach when it comes to hieroglyphs, you know."

His mother granted him a rare smile. "I'm well aware, my boy," she said, and then she nodded to Marineith. "Thank you for bringing her. I know she didn't find her way inside without your help."

"My pleasure," he replied. "If it's for Marineith, I'd sail past the sunrise and back."

"Charming," Marineith replied sarcastically.

Merit Ptah rolled her eyes. "Ah, to be young," she said. "Evening will fall soon. I would love to join you for dinner, but I have unfinished business here," she said, tilting her head towards the Pharaoh's palace. "Stay safe on your way home."

"Will do," Adrestus said. "May the Gods blessings be with you." Then he grinned, grabbed Marineith's hand, and practically pulled her behind him as he took off at a run.

"What the – _Adrestus!_ " Marineith cried, startled, nearly losing her balance as she tried to keep up with him. "Slow down, you idiot!"

He laughed and stopped so suddenly that she ran into his back, and she pulled back with a slightly throbbing nose and a scowl.

"Sorry," he apologized, having the decency to look a little guilty. "I'm just really happy I get to spend some time with you." He leaned towards her, not noticing the way she leaned backwards away from him. "With just the two of us."

"You'll spend even _less_ time with me if you keep that up," she warned, rubbing her nose. He leaned back quickly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry," he said again. Then he pointed down the emptying streets. "Let's go that way."

Marineith squinted, trying to recall if that was the road they'd come down on their way here, but she couldn't remember, so she nodded with a resigned sigh. Even as Ladybug, she rarely found herself so close to the Pharaoh's living residence, so she had little choice but to trust in Adrestus.

She didn't find that all to hard to do.

The way his eyes lit up at her answer made Marineith's heart skip a beat.

They walked for what felt like hours, past open stalls selling jewelry and foods and finely-painted trinkets of wood and glass, the sounds of market bartering drowned out by the sound of Adrestus' voice, and eventually Marineith forgot her surroundings altogether. Adrestus had a way of talking to her that always made her forget where she was or who was listening. It didn't matter if the Pharaoh himself were watching; if her blue eyes met his green ones, she'd find the rest of the world starting to fade away around them as she stared into his eyes, trying to count the flecks of gold speckled in them.

There was only one other person who had the same effect.

They fell into comfortable conversation; she talked about her morning lesson with Merit Ptah, about how important today had been for her before circumstances had changed her lessons for the day, and he talked about how boring it was to be an apprenticed scribe and how lovely she looked in the setting sun's light. She danced around the subject of the Akuma attack when it came up, not wanting anything of her identity to slip, but Adrestus seemed to avoid the topic, too; she was grateful for that.

It was only when some sand scratched against the inside of her toes that she was brought back to reality. She looked down, saw the brick road had turned to sand, and looked up. They were nearly at the edge of the Pharaoh's inner city: beyond it were small fields, no doubt tended to by farming families like the one she'd grown up in, and the Nile stretched far away across the horizon, a small, blue-green thread of frayed fabric against a backdrop of pale, yellow sand and sunset pinks and golds.

It was breathtaking.

"Sorry for bringing you out this far," Adrestus said. "But it's pretty, and I know you like the Nile. You can see it from here, so I wanted to show you."

She found her eyes drawn to the almost shy grin on his face, wearing a genuine smile as he waited for her to say something.

And she wanted to. Marineith wanted to thank him, wanted to say a million different things to him, but she was suddenly afraid that if she started to speak, everything might come tumbling out all at once, a messy flood of secrets and feelings that she wasn't sure she was ready to share yet, even with herself.

So she pursed her lips and forced her eyes back to the horizon, waiting for her heart to calm down ever so slightly before taking a shaky breath to speak.

"Thank you," she said softly. "It _is_ really pretty."

She wasn't supposed to feel this way about him. He was nobility. His mother's brother was the leader of Pharaoh's army, and his mother herself was Pharaoh's highest appointed physician. Even if she was training under Merit Ptah, Marineith's status was far below his, and always would be, because she didn't come from a long line of leaders or merchants.

She came from two simple farmers who married for love and lived in poverty along the Nile's banks.

And besides all that, her heart belonged to someone else.

So when his long fingers brushed against hers, she lurched her arm back, eyes flying accusingly towards Adrestus. Guilt crept onto his face as he retracted his hand, along with a hurt expression.

"Marine-"

"What did your mother mean when she said she had unfinished business?" she asked, doing her best to ignore the aching in her heart. Her voice was sharper than she'd intended it to be, her words more clipped, and she knew it was obvious that she was forcing a change in their conversation topic, but she didn't have a choice.

She couldn't keep talking about this. Not with him.

Adrestus hesitated, and then looked towards the setting sun.

"She means King Tutankhamen," he said. "She was summoned to the palace to save the Queen. She has a duty to tell him about her condition, and..."

"...And if she's going to make it," Marineith finished, sadness lacing her words. She couldn't imagine having to deliver that kind of news to anyone. She hoped she would never have to.

"Hopefully she'll get better," Adrestus said, and he reassuringly patted Marineith on the back. "If there's anyone who can get her back on her feet, it's my mom." He grinned. "She's the best physician in all of Egypt."

Marineith smiled back.

"Of course she is," she replied. "I wouldn't be studying with her if she wasn't."

"I believe it," Adrestus said. "You know, she thinks you've got potential."

She blinked. "Well, I don't think she would have taken me on as a pupil if I didn't."

"Well, yes, of course," Adrestus said, "But she thinks you could someday surpass her in skill."

 _That_ came as a surprise.

"Really?" she asked, smile broadening hopefully. Merit Ptah had always acknowledged Marineith's quick mind and sharp intellect. But to think that her teacher thought she could become Egypt's next best physician...!

"Yes," Adrestus said. "Really."

Marineith couldn't help the giddy giggle that bubbled out from between her lips.

"That makes this day a lot better," she told him. "That and the view," she added, pointing to the horizon. "Thank you, Adrestus."

He shrugged, smiling back at her. Her heart stopped just long enough for butterflies to start fluttering all at once in her stomach.

"You're welcome, Marineith."

* * *

Once the pinks in the sky had turned to lilac and then pale purple, Adrestus and Marineith headed back to Merit Ptah's palace. Once inside, Marineith quickly went to her quarters, grabbing a sugary snack for her Kwami and a candle for light as she went. Her rooms were near Adrestus' (a fact she both resented and enjoyed, depending on her mood), but she didn't run into him on her way there. (She did not miss the twinge of disappointment her heart gave her, but she did choose to ignore it.)

"I can't believe Merit Ptah thinks so highly of me!" she gushed as soon as she pulled the drape on her doorway closed. She put the candle on the windowsill, and considered leaning dreamily out the window. But she thought better of it, spinning around in circles and laughing instead.

"Congratulations, Marineith," her Kwami cheered, circling around her to snatch the snack from Marineith's outstretched hand. Tikki settled down on the bed in the corner of the room, and Marineith approached her, looking down excitedly.

"This is a dream come true!" Marineith declared. "I mean yes, okay, I didn't get to treat a patient today." Which was disappointing, because she'd been looking so, so forward to it, and skipped lunch for it, and stayed up late for weeks practicing and studying for it. "But knowing Merit Ptah believes in me is more than enough to make me content."

"I agree!" Tikki said. "For now, it's enough to know you have what it takes to succeed. You've just got to keep up your hard work."

"Mhm!" Marineith slipped off the heavy jewelry decorating her skin, relieved when its weight was gone. Then she joined Tikki on the bed, snuggling happily into the sheets. "Knowing my teacher, she'll probably have a new patient lined up for me tomorrow, anyways."

"Yup, probably so!" giggled Tikki, who gobbled down the rest of her treat before hovering closer to Marineith's face. "You should get some rest, too. You'll need the energy."

Marineith laughed, cupping the Kwami in her hands and hugging her gently.

"I could say the same to you, Tikki," she replied. "You need to rest more than I do. I'll be fine." Still, Marineith lay down, settling her Kwami comfortably against the cushioned bed.

"Good night, Marineith," Tikki mumbled. The Kwami's breathing evened out quickly, but Marineith found herself restless, her thoughts drifting from Merit Ptah to the Queen's condition.

The air drifting through her open window was chilly, even with the curtains drawn, and when Marineith shivered, she couldn't help but remember Merit Ptah's words in the cold, torch-lit hallways.

 _The Goddess who gives us the power to cure does not extend the gift of life for everyone._

* * *

 **;) Told ya I'd be updating this throughout the day. WHOAH OH MY GOD 3K WORDS. HOLY MOLY.**

 **I don't usually write this much for just one chapter, so I'm rather proud of it. owo**

 **Happy Turkey Day! Don't worry about diets for today - just eat until you're happy.**

 **xoxoPigTails**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Heart's Truth**

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for ML Staff Appreciation Week: Day Four

...

.

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Chapter Three

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The day Aria returned to the palace, Marineith was waiting for her with a broad grin and open arms.

Marineith ran towards her approaching form as soon as she caught sight of her standing by the palace entrance, launching herself at her to tackle her in a tight hug. Aria embraced her back warmly.

"Welcome home," Marineith mumbled into Aria's shoulder. She pulled back to look at her friend: Her brown eyes were just as rich and dark and lively as ever, but her bushy, curly brown hair had grown out quite a bit, so it reached the middle of her back. "You look even more beautiful than when you left."

Aria laughed. "Oh, silly Mari! It's only been a few months!"

"Eight months and twelve days is not _a few_ ," Marineith replied somberly. "And I missed you each and every one of them."

"I missed you, too, Mari," her friend said, hugging her again. "It's been _far_ too long. When we get inside, I have a present for you!"

"You didn't need to get me anything," Marineith said as she and her friend went inside Merit Ptah's palace. Aria stopped to speak with her former instructor, and then the girls went towards the quarters they shared together. They had both started their apprenticeships the same year, Marineith with Merit Ptah, and Aria with a leading herbalist. As such, they'd learned to collaborate, and shared their learnings with each other, something that benefited them both. More importantly, along with sharing their rooms, they'd shared their stories, and had become close friends. Aria learned that Marineith loved to sing, and Marineith learned that Volpina was a talented musician who played the flute.

They became even closer when Marineith accidentally lost her transformation just as Aria walked into the room, two years into their training. She had been scared, afraid of losing her best friend, but Aria had only laughed, lifted her flute, and revealed an orange Kwami of her own.

They were inseparable after that, until eight months and twenty days ago, when Aria had finished her apprenticeship and decided to travel around Egypt to gather special herbs to cultivate in a palace garden for medicinal use. She had left nine days after that.

Marineith had missed her dearly.

"So what was it like?" Marineith asked as they finally reached their room. Aria pulled the curtain on their door open, Marineith following her in. "I mean, traveling. Was it fun?"

Aria laughed. "It was dirty," she replied. "I felt like I always had sand caught in my sandals."

Marineith grinned at that. She wanted to travel the world someday, but she also knew all too well how uncomfortably chafing sand between toes could be. Still, sandals were better than going barefoot. "I'm sure."

"But it was fun," Aria continued. She plopped onto her bed with a sigh of contentment, dropping her traveling bag beside her. "I've never been so invigorated and exhausted at the same time."

"You'd better tell me the whole story," Marineith said, sitting on the edge of her friends bed.

"I will," Aria assured her. "I'm telling everyone about it at the welcoming banquet tonight." She sat up suddenly, poking Marineith's shoulder, a mischievous look in her eyes. "So I think it's better to spend the rest of today talking about a certain blond-haired... Oh, what did you call him before... _Dreamboat?_ "

Marineith groaned, a blush creeping across her face. Across the room, Tikki and Volpina's Kwami were giggling and sitting on the windowsill, catching up with each other.

"Do we really need to bring this up?" Marineith asked, wholly embarrassed. "He wasn't supposed to _overhear_ me when I said that!"

"Well, it's your own fault for not being able to keep it to yourself until we got back here," Aria responded, smiling at her friend. "Has he said anything about it?"

Marineith shook her head. "No. He's been even more distant since you left, actually." She bit her lip, then sighed. "I wonder if he hates me...?"

Volpina shook her head. "Oh, Marineith," she said, hugging her friend. She pulled away and pushed her hands along the edges of Marineith's lips, turning them upwards in a makeshift smile. "Cheer up! Cat Noir's not the kind of guy to hold a grudge over something like that."

Marineith kept her lips upturned after Aria removed her hands. "Yeah, I know," she replied. Then she sighed, putting her hands on her red cheeks. "I'm just... Oh, Gods, he overheard me say that!"

Aria laughed. "He was bound to find out eventually," she assured her friend. "And okay, it wasn't the romantic confession you'd been hoping to have. But at least it's done."

"Mm," Marineith agreed. "And at least I said it with more confidence than I would have if I'd known he was listening."

"Yes! Exactly! Look at the bright side to all of this!" Aria shook her head, smiling. "When you two are married someday, I'm gonna laugh when I remind you that you couldn't pull yourselves together and work things out for the entire eight months I was gone." She shook her head in dismay. "Eight _months_! Honestly..."

"I tried!" Marineith whined. "I tried to talk it over! It's just... Really awkward and really hard to talk to him, though!" She pursed her lips. "And he's not exactly sticking around long after beating Akuma to talk much at all."

"Well, to be fair, he knows your Miracle Stone wears off after Lucky Charm," Aria pointed out. "And we all agreed to keep our identities secret, so it makes sense that he's respecting that."

"I know, but I think he's using it as an excuse to leave quickly." Marineith sighed. "It's been... A long eight months." She bit her lip. "Queen Ankhesenamun..."

"I heard," Aria said. "Word travels fast in Pharaoh's army, and the guards are awfully chatty to a pretty face like mine." She flipped her hair playfully, eliciting a giggle from her friend. "But in all seriousness, how bad is she?" she asked curiously. "All the guards told me was she got worse, even though Merit Ptah is treating her."

Marineith sighed.

"It's not good, from what I can tell," Marineith said. "I've never seen someone so pale and thin before, Aria." She pushed back a shiver as she remembered how frail the Queen looked in her dim room lit only by candlelight. "I'm not even sure the Gods can save her."

"The Gods can save anyone," Aria replied firmly. "If Sekhmet wills for someone to live, Anubis himself can't drag them to the Underworld."

 _The Goddess who gives us the power to cure does not extend the gift of life for everyone._

"I don't know," Marineith answered carefully. "Sekhmet is a fickle Goddess."

Aria tsked.

"Don't say that about her," she said playfully, and the serious mood dissipated. "Or you'll find yourself saddled with bad luck."

Marineith laughed. "I think I have enough good luck to keep that from happening," she countered. "I'm Ladybug, after all. I've got the Luckiest Charm of all."

Aria giggled, then hugged her friend.

"It's good to be back, Mari."

Marineith smiled and hugged her friend back, burying her face into her friend's bushy hair.

"I'm glad you're back, too, Aria." She pulled back and smirked. "Now, about that present."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Aria reached down and tugged her bag up onto the bed, opening it. She sifted through it, pulling out a few items, before grinning and pulling out something wrapped in fine, purple-dyed linen. "Ta-dah! For you, with love."

Marineith let out a squeal of happiness, reaching out to take the wrapped gift from Aria's outstretched hands. The two Kwami flew by to perch on their respective partner's shoulder, peering down with interest as Marineith unwrapped the present.

She let out a gasp when she caught sight of glittering metal.

It was a necklace of gold and beads, intricately designed to weave seamlessly together in an eye-catching pattern, and the centerpiece was a spotted scarab beetle resembling a ladybug. It looked expensive, and was absolutely stunning to look at. She lifted it gingerly, expecting it to weigh a lot, and was surprised to find it light in her hands. Marineith gently held it in front of her to admire the sunlight glinting off of it before flinging herself at her friend.

"Thank you, Aria!" she cried. "It's beautiful!"

"You're welcome," Aria replied. "I saw it and thought of you, and it's so pretty! I just _couldn't_ pass it up."

"I owe you for this," Marineith said, reaching back to tie the necklace around her neck. She struggled to do so, but Aria scooted around and helped her secure it. "It's perfect, Aria, thank you so much!"

"I'll hold you to that promise," Aria giggled. "It was _meant_ for you, Marineith. The blue beads even match your eyes!"

Marineith smiled, glancing down at the necklace. She stood and struck a pose, smiling at her friend, who laughed.

"Watch out! Adrestus might see you posing in the doorway and start drooling," Aria teased. Marineith made a face, dropping the pose and stepping away from the doorway.

"Eww, you make a good point."

"Hey!" called a voice from the hallway. "I can kind of hear you guys, you know!"

The girls looked at each other before bursting into giggles. Aria stood and pulled the curtain to their door open, and after a few moments, Adrestus appeared inside their room, grinning at Marineith.

"What's this about drool?" he asked.

"Look at her necklace," Aria said. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Adrestus stared openly at Marineith; she rolled her eyes, ignoring the blush threatening to creep along her face. Then he nodded.

"Yeah, it is," he said. "Almost as beautiful as the girl wearing it."

"Oh, _honestly_." Marineith waved her hand dismissively at his words. "Why were you loitering outside our room, anyway?"

"I wasn't loitering," he said defensively. "I was just walking down the hall to _my_ room when I heard you guys talking. That's all." At Marineith's incredulous look, he raised his hands submissively. "Honest!"

"Aww, come on, Marineith, cut the guy some slack," Aria said. Adrestus turned to her and smiled.

"Someone does believe in me, after all!" Aria shook her head, chuckling, and Adrestus took her hand and kissed the back of her hand. "Welcome back, Aria. It's been ages."

"It's good to be back," Aria replied, smiling. "I was kind of hoping you'd have changed your flirty ways while I was gone, but I guess not."

Adrestus put a hand over his chest, a fake look of pain crossing his face.

"Your words hurt me to my heart," he said dramatically. Then he grinned. "It's like you're saying that's a _bad_ thing or something! But no, I haven't changed a bit."

"That is _not_ reassuring," Marineith said.

Aria laughed.

"Well, in a way, it is," she said. "I'm glad not too much has changed since I've been away."

"Not true," Adrestus said. "We've all gotten _way_ prettier."

Marineith rolled her eyes as Aria let out a booming laugh.

"Please never change, you dork," Aria said after her laughter died down. "I'd miss your compliments too much."

And despite her protests, when Adrestus' green and gold-flecked eyes met her own blue ones, Marineith silently agreed with Aria.

* * *

"Ladybug, duck!"

Marineith didn't need to be told twice; she saw the stream of boiling liquid flying her way and did as Cat had told her, ducking beneath it as it seared past her and splashed against the side of a mud-brick building, burning a large hole through it.

Cat and Volpina landed protectively to either side of her as she hurried to stand.

"You okay?" Aria asked her. Marineith nodded, eyes already searching again for the Akuma victim attacking them. She found him atop a market stall, a bowl of swirling liquid in his hands. He was dressed like a typical priest, with a few more embellished tattoos than normally acceptable on his exposed skin, but the ominously bubbling and steaming substance in the clay bowl he held exposed him as their target. On his shoulder was a glittering piece of jewelry, glowing an eerie purple that gave it away as the Akuma butterfly's hiding place.

"I'm fine," she assured her partners. "We need to get the brace on his right arm," she said, pointing. Their eyes followed her finger. "The Akuma's inside of it."

"Easier said than done, with that stuff he's holding," Volpina replied.

Cat shrugged. "I'm up for the challenge," he said, shooting a toothy grin at them that set Marineith's heart stuttering along a mile a minute.

"I'll get my Lucky Charm ready," she informed her partners. "You guys keep him busy."

"Gotcha." Cat took off, extending his staff to try and smack the bowl out of the Akumatized man's hands. He missed, but managed to draw his attention by twirling the staff to snap against the Akuma's arm instead. Meanwhile, Volpina snuck around the nearby rooftops to try and look for an opening from behind.

Marineith called on her Lucky Charm, and a bucket appeared, clattering into her hands. She glanced down at it, perplexed, before shaking her head and glancing around.

 _Obviously, that guy's liquid is going into the bucket_ , she thought to herself. _But what else can I...?_

Her eyes fell on the curved rooftop of a mud-brick house,and after glancing at the bucket in her hands and the liquid in the Akuma's bowl, she smiled, everything falling into place in her mind.

She looked up to see Cat narrowly dodge a stream of broiling liquid, with Volpina following up by swinging her flute at the Akuma's arm. Marineith tossed her yo-yo and swung from roof to roof, landing on the tilted mud-brick building.

"Over here!" she called, drawing the attention of her friends and the Akuma.

Her friends caught on quickly, leaping to join her. The Akuma let out a growl, and with a great heave, tossed a boiling stream of the liquid substance at her. She grinned, tossing the bucket at Cat, who landed beside her just in time to catch the liquid in it; meanwhile, Marineith tossed her yo-yo to wrap around the outstretched Akuma's arm. She pulled, hard; his arm brace slid off, and she released it just in time for it to clatter to the ground as Cat poured the burning liquid harmlessly off the side of the building. It drippped off the edge, landing on and melting the brace, and the tainted butterfly fluttered out.

Marineith caught it, purified it, and with a great surge of warmth, released the Miraculous Ladybug that returned everything back to normal. She, Cat, and Volpina shared a group fist-bump before Marineith's and Volpina's Miracle Stones chirped warningly.

"Guess I'll see you ladies later," Cat said, turning to leave.

"Hold on there, Kitty," Volpina said, shooting Marineith a meaningful glance. "We need to talk."

He seemed to stiffen at the words, but turned around expectantly, as if he'd been steeling himself for this moment.

"I disappear for eight months. Eight." Volpina's words were sharp. "And neither of you has managed to work out your feelings?" She shook her head and stepped back. "You've got about three minutes. Make sure it's enough." With that, she hopped away, shooting Marineith a reassuring grin.

It didn't really reassure Marineith at all. She pressed her lips together tightly, her cheeks turning red, and glanced shyly at Cat. She found him in a similar position, scratching the back of his neck in a nervous manner and averting his gaze.

She couldn't dawdle, though; Tikki couldn't hold her transformation forever.

"L-Look," Marineith said; a surge of Ladybug strength flowed through her, courtesy of Tikki's encouragement. "I know it was a really, really weird way for you to find out. I'm sorry." She took a deep, steadying breath, and stared squarely at him. "But I really do like you. A lot. I have for a long time now. And... And somewhere along the line, I fell in love with you."

There. She'd said it. A wave of euphoria flowed through her, but when Cat broke their gaze, it fizzed out, leaving an emptiness an a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Cat didn't reply immediately. In fact, they stood in a terrible, awkward silence for what felt like days. But then Marineith's earrings chirped earnestly, and he took a deep breath, breaking out of whatever reverie he'd been locked in. His green eyes met her blue ones unwaveringly.

"I'm... I'm honored. Really, Ladybug, I am." He sighed. And Marineith _knew._ "But I'm sorry. I can't return your feelings. There's already..." He trailed off; she saw him swallow. "I'm in love with someone else," he said. "I'm sorry."

She closed her eyes, willed her tears back; luck was on her side, because when she spoke again, her voice didn't break, even though her heart was sinking and her stomach was twisting in the most awful of ways.

"She's lucky, then. The girl you love." She gave him a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "It's all right. I wish you two the best."

She turned and leapt away, and she was glad he didn't follow, because her luck ran out before her transformation did, and by the time she bounded through her open window into Aria's waiting arms, she could hardly see through the blurry tears falling from her eyes.

* * *

 **Okay, so sadly, the whole thing won't be out tonight. :'( But on the bright side, THREE CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY. WHAT.**

 **For the last time, HAPPY TURKEY DAY, EVERYONE!**

 **xoxoPigTails**


	4. Chapter 4

**The Heart's Truth**

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 **...**

for ML Staff Appreciation Week: Day Four

...

.

* * *

Chapter Four

* * *

Marineith liked to think she did a pretty good job of keeping herself together, for a girl with a broken heart.

She threw herself into her studies with renewed vigor, determined to still follow through with her dream of traveling the world as a physician. Merit Ptah praised her for her hard work, and when her master presented her with a sick, young patient the day after her conversation with Cat, Marineith took in the little girl's appearance and symptoms and declared she had a simple seasonal fever. It was nothing new to Marineith; it was something she'd seen growing up near the Nile. As the seasons changed, people tended to fall ill, particularly children and the elderly. She herself had gotten sick quite a few times as a child before the Nile floodings that sustained the crops, and it was approaching that time of year. So she recognized the sound of the girl's cough, and combined with her low fever and sluggish movements, she realized what had caused the girl's illness.

Merit Ptah said nothing as Marineith explained the sickness to the little girl's parents, advising them to give her lots of fluids and a bit of broth, because the illness would pass within a week or two, and when she and Marineith left the girl to rest, she told Marineith she had done well. So well, in fact, that she assigned Marineith a whole new slew of new duties: traveling throughout the Pharaoh's connected palaces to treat mild cases of fevers and aches, working with herbalists to learn to concoct poultices and medicines to treat those cases, and conducting routine follow-ups on already-treated patients to see if they were healing properly.

Marineith didn't complain. It meant that her instructor was confident she could handle common cases, and more importantly, it kept her extremely busy, not letting her mind wander for more than a few seconds at a time.

There were fewer Akuma than usual, too, and Marineith was grateful for that, because she could barely handle seeing Cat, let alone accidentally meeting his eyes. She would look away quickly, blink back the tears, and summon a Lucky Charm. The sooner she beat the Akuma, the sooner she could leave, and the less likely Cat would see her crying.

She didn't like seeing the pity and guilt flashing across his face when he looked at her.

One time, after an Akuma battle that lasted longer than it should have because of her distracted-ness, she ran into Adrestus on her way back to her room. He looked stunned to see her holding back tears. She couldn't hold them any longer when she saw the genuine concern in his bright green eyes; and so she somehow found herself crying into his chest, her shoulders shaking violently, and Adrestus rubbing his hands soothingly on her back, his chin tucked comfortingly in the crook of her neck. She could hear his heartbeat, beating fast at first but gradually slowing as time passed, and she felt her own heart slow down to match his pace.

She felt safe with Adrestus. It was a fact that alarmed her. She felt safe with Adrestus, and it absolutely _terrified_ her, because she felt the same way around Cat. She fought back so many words, so many feelings, that threatened to bubble all the way to the surface, because she was in love with Cat, so she shouldn't feel this way around _Adrestus,_ even if her heart was broken, even if Cat loved _someone else_ – but then Adrestus whispered something gently in her ear, something kind and soothing and warm, and suddenly, she didn't feel so horribly sad anymore.

"Your heart bears the truth, your heart holds no lies. You hold power in your heart." He said it low in his voice, and softly, and Marineith thought it held the same breathy quality that his laughter did.

In spite of her tears, she choked back a giggle.

"I don't need a healing spell," she mumbled. She sniffed loudly, hoping it came across as confident rather than pathetic.

"If you didn't, you wouldn't be crying," Adrestus replied, his breath warm against her ear and neck. It was as if he'd put a fire too close to her skin, and suddenly she was very aware of how close they were to one another, of the way his arms were wrapped delicately around her, the way his chest rose and fell beneath her hands.

She took a deep breath, pulled back, and wiped away her tears. Then she smiled thankfully at him.

"See?" she said. "I'm fine."

He looked down with concern, clearly not convinced, but then he nodded, smiling softly back at her.

"You're perfect," he assured her quietly. Something in his eyes compelled her to reach out and cup his cheek with her hand, but she refrained from doing so, remembering again how intimately close they were, even with her standing farther away from him than before. She licked her lips, looked down at her feet, excused herself, and hurried to her room, almost missing the soft way he bid her goodbye in her rush.

Aria was surprised she wasn't in tears when she arrived, but didn't pry when Marineith lay on her bed for hours afterwards, absently stroking Tikki's head as she tried not to think about blond hair and gold-flecked eyes.

* * *

Marineith woke up two days later with too little sleep and a bad feeling hovering over her.

She glanced around; it was still early morning, and Aria, ever the heavy sleeper, was snoring contentedly in her bed tucked into the left side of their shared room. Marineith hesitated as she moved to stand; she didn't want to wake her friend up because of her unrest. But when Tikki fluttered over to her side and sleepily mumbled something about danger in the air, she disregarded her reluctance, moving quickly to her friend's side and shaking her awake as gently but firmly as she could. It worked; Aria's eyes blinked open after a moment or so.

She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she squinted at her friend.

"Wha?" she managed groggily. "Why so early?" Marineith pursed her lips.

"Tikki says something's dangerous out there," she said.

Aria's Kwami flew to land on her partner's head.

"I feel it, too," she told them. "Something bad is out there."

Aria blinked away her sleepiness and stood. The two girls shared looks of concern before getting dressed quickly, Marineith throwing on Aria's gift to her hastily as a last-minute touch. She forego-ed sandals, instead hurrying outside barefoot with Aria. Together, they made their way out of the palace and onto the streets to look with concern at the sky, their Kwami tucked safely inside their clothes.

"It doesn't _look_ that bad," Aria said. "Maybe a little rainy."

"I don't think it's the weather that's the problem," Marineith responded. Still, she couldn't deny that the clouds hovering above them and stretching all the way to the horizon promised a rainy day ahead of them. It also felt like an omen to further confirm her unsettling feeling.

"What are you girls doing awake?"

They turned to see a tired Adrestus make his way towards them. He looked exhausted, as if he'd spent most of the night awake; large bags stood out prominently against his skin, which was paler than usual. Marineith wondered if he'd had as rough a night as she had.

"I had a bad feeling," Marineith answered quickly, sharing a quick glance with Aria.

Adrestus nodded, stretching his arms upwards before rolling his shoulders.

"You're not the only one," he replied.

His actions did nothing to settle either the butterflies twirling in her stomach or the worry pressing at her mind. She looked away from him, her eyes scanning the still-dark eastern horizon.

"I just get the feeling something's..."

"Off," Aria finished for her. "I feel it, too, now."

Adrestus huffed. It drew Marineith's attention, and she looked at him with concern.

"Did you not sleep well?" she asked. He shook his head, golden hair swaying slightly from the movement.

"No, I didn't. But it's not that," he said, the downturn of his lips drawing Marineith's attention. He turned around. "I'll be back. Give me a minute." He went back inside the palace. Aria and Marineith shared perplexed glances, but once he disappeared inside the building, Aria shrugged.

"He's just being himself," she said by way of explanation.

"You mean _weird?_ "

Aria sighed. "I think _helpful_ is a better word for it," she said.

Marineith thought back to the other day, when he chanted a healing spell into her ear. It, particularly, was a chant she was very familiar with.

It was the first spell Merit Ptah had taught her after taking her on as a pupil.

 _"Remember this spell above all others," her instructor had impressed upon her. "Every word. It was taught to the first healers by Sekhmet herself. If you say this spell, no harm will come to you or your patient, if that is what Sekhmet wills."_

 _"Why would Sekhmet will anything besides pain?" Marineith asked._

 _"What makes you think she would will pain upon people?" Merit Ptah replied._

 _"Well..." Marineith fumbled with her words under the pressure of her new instructor's gaze. "At least, where I grew up, all she ever did was burn us."_

 _Merit Ptah had chuckled, a breathy tone that grew into a clear, piercing laugh.(Marineith would come to recognize the same sounds in Adrestus' laughter.)_

 _"The same light that burned your skin also fed your plants, and made them grow healthily enough to sell at market and put food on your table." Merit Ptah nodded to the middle-aged man laying on his bed in front of them, holding back a cough. "The Gods have many sides to them, just as we humans do. But Sekhmet will not hurt those she holds in her favor." Then Merit Ptah had nodded to the man. "Now, repeat the words after me, slowly, and do not forget them."_

 _Marineith did as she was told._

"Yes," she said softly. "I guess that _is_ a better word when it comes to him."

Aria caught the change in her tone.

"Does this have anything to do with two days ago?" she asked gently.

Marineith nodded slowly.

"Spill."

Marineith opened her mouth to speak, but then she heard sandals clacking against stone, and she turned around in time to see Adrestus sprint back outside to join them.

His ever-present grin was nowhere in sight.

"My mother didn't come home last night," he said.

Marineith's eyes widened, and she met his gaze.

"You don't think...?" She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

"I don't know," he answered her, frustration and worry on his face and in his voice and posture.

Aria looked back and forth between them, but said nothing when they both took off at a run, instead following silently behind them.

Marineith followed her instincts, turning corners and hurtling down the empty streets, her heart beating quickly in her chest. Above them, thunder rumbled through the gray clouds, a low grumbling that fast crescendo-ed into a booming sound that resonated all throughout Marineith's body.

It almost made her forget the pounding of her own heart, and the sand caught between her naked toes.

When they finally reached the Pharaoh's palace, she knew what was awaiting them inside, even though she hoped against hope that she was wrong. The answer lingered between the three friends, unspoken, but recognized by all. Adrestus' relationship to his mother granted him and the girls easy access past the palace guards and into the Pharaoh's home.

Marineith led the way after that, retracing her steps from when she visited Merit Ptah here earlier that month. Instinct and memory guided her. She climbed up the narrow staircase and walked down the sharply-veering hallway; once again, her eyes were drawn to the blood-red sun in Sekhmet's name inscribed on the wall. She sent a prayer to Anuket that Merit Ptah's most important patient might find herself well.

But when they reached Queen Ankhesenamun's room, the bed was empty, and the candles extinguished.

* * *

 **Almost done! uwu Updates on all stories are slow rn because finals. But expect more later this month! Holidays are coming, after all~!**

 **xoxoPigTails**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Heart's Truth**

 **.**

 **...**

for ML Staff Appreciation Week: Day Four

 **...**

 **.**

* * *

Chapter Five

* * *

Muted yellows and shining golds showed the entire kingdom's mourning of Queen Ankhesenamun's passing a week prior, when storm clouds hid the sun from view and rain turned the scratchy sand to sticky mud. The bright color bathed the already-colorful stands of fragrant foods and beaded treasures in a way that almost made Marineith feel like she was walking through clouds, as if the marketplace had transcended the tangible to the ethereal. Clothes the color of sand and jewels the color of the midday sun twinkled and drew the eye, visible everywhere in the marketplace Marineith and Aria walked through.

Their own clothes were no exception; the day after the Queen died, Marineith discovered a vibrant yellow dress placed delicately on the edge of her bed, probably put there while she slept by one of Merit Ptah's servants. Marineith had picked up the garb carefully, like she was lifting something delicate and fragile, and had felt a wave of something overwhelming flow over her as she took in the yellow hues of the fabric. Yellow, like Sekhmet's burning sun and captious healing; like Ra, and like the Lords of the afterlife, and the color of glittering gold and sandy dunes; like Cat Noir's honey hair at sunrise, like flecks of gold sprinkled in green, green eyes.

As she had slipped into the dress, Marineith decided that she both terrifically loathed and wholly adored the color yellow.

That day had been the hardest day, even harder than her painfully silent patrol with Volpina and Cat Noir the previous night, when Cat's rejection and the Queen's death hung heavier above them than the dark clouds pouring down rain. A suffocating quiet fell over the entirety of Pharaoh's city, and it had been smothering in Merit Ptah's great, painfully silent house. Marineith had shuddered multiple times as wind and water rolled through the open window; she curled into her bed and holed up in her room with Aria, neither girl knowing exactly what to do with themselves on such a cold, silent day. The sound of rain, carrying the muddy scent of the desert sand through the window, was the only noise, Marineith thought, the only noise in all of Kemet, in all the Black Land.

Merit Ptah had not returned the night before. Marineith's mind was a mess, wandering from worried thought to worried thought, and when Adrestus wandered into their room, uninvited and looking thoroughly miserable, Marineith had silently extended a hand and invited him to sit with her. He took it, and their hands curled around each other. Marineith remembered the feeling of his breath against her skin as he mumbled the healing spell into her ear, and she debated returning the favor; but no, no healing spell could bring back the dead, or take away the fear haunting them. So she said nothing, and only lightly passed her thumb along the top of his hand. It was as much comfort as she could give Adrestus.

It must have worked; he squeezed her hand after a while, and they sat together like that, hand in hand, saying nothing. That was how most of the day passed: in total silence, worry etched on each of their faces, and fear kindling like fire in their hearts for what might have had happened to Merit Ptah in the wake of Queen Ankhesenamun's death.

Silence. Until the sun had set, and the three friends picked up the sound of rapid, sure-footed steps, the sharp clicking of sandals against stone flooring a wondrously familiar sound. They only had time to share wide-eyed glances before the curtain of the girls room was thrown open, and Merit Ptah, holding a brightly-lit candle and dressed head-to-toe in the yellow of mourning, came to a stop to glower down at them.

"I hear you have made yourselves scarce today," she said, golden eyes flashing in the light, and without waiting to hear them say anything, she clicked her tongue, motioned with her hand for them to follow, and turned on her heel. "I'm disappointed. You should all know better."

Marineith tried to find her voice, but it was Adrestus who spoke first.

"Mother," he breathed, and with a speed Marineith didn't know he possessed, Adrestus stood and closed the distance between himself and Merit Ptah. He stopped just short of hugging her, pulling back an outstretched arm in hesitation. "Where were you?" he asked.

Marineith and Aria quickly followed in Adrestus' wake, standing and moving behind their friend. Merit Ptah, unfazed, continued walking, and so the three teenagers followed in her wake, waiting for her to answer.

Instead, she brought them down to the kitchens, which were empty at this time of night. She placed the candle on one of the counters, illuminating a loaf of emmer bread.

"Eat," she instructed. Marineith did as she was told, as did Aria; neither girl had eaten at all that day, and seeing the emmer bread made their mouths water. But Adrestus held back, brow furrowed in the flickering candlelight.

"Where were you?" he asked again, with more force behind his carefully-emphasized words.

Merit Ptah turned her head to look at her son; Marineith, who had a piece of bread close to her mouth before Adrestus spoke, slowly lowered the food to stare at the fire in Adrestus' green eyes as he and his mother locked gazes for a few tense moments.

Finally, Merit Ptah, without looking away from her son, spoke.

"Consoling the Pharaoh, and reciting preliminary spells for the Queen's good passage to the afterlife." Merit Ptah's golden eyes flickered with the candle in the air, gold on gold. "Were you worried?"

The relieved sag of Adrestus' shoulders telling.

"Welcome home," he said gently.

Merit Ptah's lips curled into a tight smile.

"Eat," she said again; this time, Adrestus complied, taking a piece of bread from Marineith's outstretched hand.

When their fingers brushed each others, and he smiled gratefully at her, Marineith's heart stuttered.

The rest of the week had been unofficially deemed a time of mourning in Merit Ptah's estate. Yellow attire was mandatory; everyday, Marineith prayed to Osiris for the Queen's safe transition into the next life. Merit Ptah went about her business as a physician, checking up on the patients Marineith had been looking after for her, but Marineith was poignantly reminded of the loss of their Queen every time afternoon rolled around, and she felt the afternoon sun burning down on her head.

Akuma attacks had ceased altogether. It worried her and Aria, because what could possibly have stopped the Akuma in their tracks? As convenient as it would be to associate the lack of Akuma with the Queen's death, Marineith couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't that simple, couldn't be that easy. With each passing day, each free of Akuma rampages, Marineith grew more and more concerned.

But there was nothing to be done about it. She and the other Miraculous holders couldn't track down the Akuma, couldn't track down Hawkmoth, if there was simply nothing there to track. Perhaps, she thought in the recesses of her mind, perhaps the Queen herself had been behind the attacks. That would explain why the Akuma were no longer around; with Hawkmoth dead, the butterflies would no longer become soaked in hatred and despair.

But then she would remember the Queen's frail body, so fragile beneath the cloak of darkness and flickering lights. How could she believe that someone so close to the brink of death could have managed to continue producing powerful Akuma? There had been plenty of Akuma attacks while the Queen had been falling more and more ill. So there was no way it could have been her. In fact, her very first Akuma encounter – and subsequently, her encounter with Tikki and becoming Ladybug – occurred the same day Merit Ptah was first summoned to the Palace to treat an ache of some sort for Queen Ankhesenamun. There was simply no way the Queen had been Hawkmoth.

So what was Hawkmoth doing, then? Mourning, like the rest of the Pharaoh's people? It was possible, but mourning didn't stop her, Volpina, or Cat Noir from patrolling. If Hawkmoth was grieving so much that it stopped him from doing anything else... How close had he been to Queen Ankhesenamun to be so completely overwhelmed by her loss that he couldn't carry out any Akuma attacks? A chill swept through her at the thought.

What if Hawkmoth lived in the palace of the Pharaoh?

Marineith did not sleep well that entire week.

On the ninth day after the Queen's death, over a fairly quiet breakfast – at which Adrestus was, Marineith noted, absent – Merit Ptah clapped her hands to draw everyone's attention from their food. The table discussion faded away, leaving relative silence. Merit Ptah spoke, a stern look on her face.

"No sense in staying holed up inside," she told her family, friends and pupil. "It is a time for mourning, but not a time for sloth. Go about your duties with just as much pride as before." She fixed her gaze upon Aria and Marineith, looking each in the eyes before continuing. "The chef could use some assistance in getting ingredients from market today." From her tone of voice and the sharp gaze in her honey-colored eyes, Marineith knew her words were not just an implied suggestion to help. So after finishing their meal, the two young women slipped into their sandals and headed out after going through a list of necessary food things with the kitchen staff.

By the time they headed out, the sun had already risen, and when they reached the market, it was noontime; stalls of salted meats and exotic spices drew throngs of hungry shoppers, who crowded the sandy pathways and clogged the narrow passages between buildings. The girls navigated slowly through the droves of people, walking shoulder-to-shoulder and keeping up a conversation as they went.

"And so I said, 'If you won't give me the blasted flower, then I'll just go and find it by myself!' And that's how I wasted a whole month wandering around in an oasis to look for a stupid plant that doesn't really do anything useful."

Marineith giggled. Her friend's adventures across Egypt had been recounted to her when Aria had first returned and had been thrown an extravagant welcome-back party, but Aria had a way of telling stories that always made a tale seem fresh and exciting, no matter how many times you'd heard it before. Her words were like bright strings weaving vivid tapestries before her listeners, painting fresh hieroglyphs on a blank wall for her audience. Marineith was riveted.

"Why go to so much trouble for it, then?" she asked her friend loudly. Through the bustle of the marketplace, Marineith had to practically yell into her friends ear to be heard, even as close together as they were. Aria huffed, rolling her eyes, though the playful twinkle in her eye told Marineith that she was far from frustrated with the question directed at her.

"To put that Priest in his place," Aria replied, her rich, resonant voice naturally carrying over the noise buzzing all about them. Then she grinned, the whites of her teeth bright and dazzling against the backdrop of sand and mud-brick buildings. "And it worked! When I came back with the flower, he was practically _falling_ over himself to apologize."

The girls laughed together.

"Serves him right," Marineith said, tone just as light as her friend's. "Trying to teach you about something you've studied for years!"

"I know, right?" A short, breathy laugh resounded from Aria. "And from a court herbalist, no less! But in the end, it all worked out in my favor. He got a nice lesson in knowing one's place, and I got a refresher course in tracking plant seeds!"

"How _did_ they get there?" Marineith asked curiously. "I didn't think such flowers were native to those parts of Egypt."

"Oh, of course they're not," Aria said, waving her hands in front of her. "They get there the usual ways, though. Nile flooding, winds, animals, all that stuff." Aria's eyes shifted towards the left, and then her grin widened. "Hey, look!"

Marineith followed her friend's line of vision, her eyes alighting on a vendor sitting on a colorful rug. His goods were spread out before him in beautifully-woven baskets of reeds and straw. One of them was embroidered with black cats, and her heart did a flip when she realized their eyes were beads, bright green and shimmering under Sekhmet's light.

"Aren't those bracelets cute?" Marineith focused on the basket Aria pointed to, following her friend as she approached the vendor. "Hey, what're they made of?"

The vendor, an old, foreign-looking man with grey hair and crinkled eyes, smiled warmly up at them from his spot on the rug.

"Very fine materials, I assure you," he replied; Marineith was taken aback by his accent. It was familiar. "The ribbon is made of a fine cloth found only in my homeland."

"They look lovely," Aria said, smiling. "May I?"

The vendor nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course," he said. "Feel free."

While Aria focused on sifting through, and trying on, the beaded bracelets in one of the baskets, Marineith again turned to look at the cat-inspired basket. The old man noticed, shifting forward to shift the basket towards her.

"Has it caught your interest?" he asked. Marineith felt an urge to blush and, embarrassed,

shifted from foot to foot.

"Yes," she admitted, leaning down to inspect it closer. She ran a hand delicately along the finely-woven straw, golden-colored and firm beneath her fingers. "It's... Pretty," she finished, feeling like the word didn't quite convey how captivating the little basket was, how it drew her in with its twinkling, beady green cat eyes.

Twinkling, beady green cat eyes that reminded her of other green-eyed cats.

"I think so, as well," replied the vendor. She looked up to meet his eyes, and they shone with something she thought looked like recognition, perhaps, or maybe hope. "For you, it's free."

Marineith's eyes widened.

"Oh, I couldn-"

"No, no, I insist," interrupted the old man with a wave of his hand. Ignoring Marineith's spluttering words and agitated hand gestures, he quickly emptied the basket of its previous contents and then proffered it towards her. "Take it, my child."

"I..." She turned to glance over at Aria, who shrugged and returned her gaze to an orange bracelet. "Are you sure?"

"As sure as the sun shines," he replied. "I assure you, it will serve you far better than it ever has me."

Breathlessly, Marineith took the basket from his hands, glancing down at the black cats with green eyes woven into the basket. Her heart ached, and suddenly she felt the potent heat of the sun burning down on her again, burning like it did when she was a child tending the fields by her father's side.

"I don't suppose I could get one of these for free, too, could I?" Aria asked hopefully, holding up the orange bracelet. The old man laughed, a raspy sound that Marineith thought was lovely. It drew out a small smile from her.

"Those cost far more for me to get a-hold of," he told Aria. "So I'm afraid not." His twinkling eyes met Aria's. "But I'm sure we can settle on a price that's fine for you."

After some bartering, Aria handed over some gold (and a bottle of herbs that also acted as spices) in exchange for the orange bracelet, and then she and Marineith thanked the old man and headed back into the marketplace to find the herbs and goods their chef still needed for the evening meal.

"Did you hear his accent?" Aria asked excitedly once they'd turned a corner and could no longer see the old vendor.

"Yeah, I did," Marineith replied, holding her new basket gently in her arms, close to her chest.

"I wonder where he came from?" she asked. "I've never heard such an accent before, and I've been all over Egypt!"

"It's Chinese," Marineith said. "My mother sometimes slips into an accent like that."

"Oh!" Aria laughed. "I forgot you're foreign yourself."

"If you count foreign grandparents making you foreign," Marineith replied. "I'm more Egyptian now than I am anything else."

"But still," Aria said, "I can't believe that old man came all the way from China! I wonder how long he's been here?"

"Not sure," Marineith replied. She looked down at the basket in front of her. "Long enough to have made all those pretty baskets, though."

"I guess that's true." Aria noticed the way her friend's eyes were trained on the basket in her arms. "Oh, Marineith..."

Marineith took a deep breath and blinked away the tears that were beginning to gather in her eyes.

"I'm fine," she answered quickly, squeezing her basket a little closer to her. "Just... I'll need time."

"I know, Mari," Aria replied gently, placing an arm around her friend's shoulders and running a hand through her dark locks. "I know."

Marineith sniffled, then looked up at her friend.

"I just didn't think... Sometimes, he would look at me, and I thought..." She sucked in a deep breath. "I thought I could see some of my feelings... Some of that in his eyes, too."

"It's not wrong to have loved him and hoped for him to love you back." Aria kissed Marineith's head, twirling some of her black hair away from her face as she smiled consolingly. "There are so many more men out there for you. One of them will sweep you off your feet someday, and he'll be more than Cat could have ever been."

Unbidden, Marineith's mind flashed back to her and Adrestus looking out at the sunset, to the way his golden-flecked eyes had made her heart beat erratically, just long enough for her to remember she only ever felt that way around Cat.

"Maybe," she said softly, hardly above a whisper, a tentative admittance from the quietest depths of her heart. "Someday, maybe."

Aria probed her friend on the forehead with two fingers, grinning widely at her.

"If we don't get back soon, Merit Ptah's gonna blame dinner being late on us."

Marineith smiled.

"Well, if we don't get back soon, it _will_ be our fault."

The girls hurried on to gather the rest of the needed ingredients, placing some of them inside Marineith's new basket. On their way back home, Marineith tried to see if the old man was still selling his wares, but his rug was nowhere to be found, and his smile was soon just a quick-fading memory as she hurried home. There were more pressing matters to think about.

Like Hawkmoth.

Like Cat Noir and Adrestus.

* * *

"Fan of Cat Noir?"

 _Oh no._

Marineith turned to see Adrestus grinning from ear to ear, arms crossed as he leaned against a wall outside the kitchens. If she hadn't recognized the sound of his voice, she might not have realized it was him; he wore a black wig with golden beads strung in here and there, and unlike the long robes that fell from his shoulders which he usually wore, he only had on a Shendyt, a knee-length skirt belted at his waist with fine leather and yellow adornments. Heavy gold jewelry glittered against his exposed skin, but her eyes were drawn inextricably to his green and honey-flecked eyes, the tell-tale giveaway that this was the Adrestus she knew so well.

"Were you waiting for me to leave?" she asked incredulously, avoiding his question. She did her best not to shift the basket in her arms, lest it draw his attention, but it was to no avail; his eyes immediately flickered down to glance at the cat-embroidered basket, and then back up to meet her own eyes.

"Only when I heard you laughing," he replied, shrugging. "It carries, you know. Your voice. I heard it all the way down the hall."

She doubted that. She knew for a fact that the head chef had a booming laugh that could easily drown out a light voice such as hers. And in the marketplace earlier, Aria had to lean in to hear her speak. Marineith's voice was a light one, easily lost in any sort of cacophony. But then again, Adrestus had very good ears; he could hear her and Aria coming from a mile away. It was uncanny, the way he easily picked her out of a crowd as they passed each other by on the street sometimes, or the way he knew whether she was in her room before getting halfway down their shared hallway.

"You were waiting for me to leave," she repeated, rolling her eyes. He hadn't denied it; therefore, it was true. Adrestus pushed off the wall to walk beside her as she started heading towards her room. Aria had gone ahead of her, and now Marineith sort of regretted staying behind to help the chef put up the ingredients. But she didn't want to leave her basket, so she had stayed to help, and found herself asking what some of the spices were for. The chef had been more than happy to oblige her, and so Marineith had quickly gotten absorbed in the descriptions of certain spices and their uses, and how to make emmer bread, and how to shape the dough so that it would look like an ox when it had leavened...

Well, she'd spent more time than she'd meant to in the kitchens, and Aria was long gone by the time she found herself heading back to her room.

But apparently, she wouldn't be walking back alone. Adrestus fell into step beside her, their sandals clipping the ground beneath them, bouncing off the walls and echoing just enough to make their steps seem seamless to Marineith, like they might be one person.

It was both an infuriating thought, and an endearing one.

"Okay, okay, you got me," he said, raising his hands in mock defeat. "I just wanted to say hi." He winked. "See if you missed me at all."

Instead of answering, she raised her eyebrows.

"Where were you today?" she asked him. "You weren't here for breakfast."

"Oh." Adrestus let out a huff. "I was... Commissioned."

"Commissioned?" Marineith asked. This was surprising. He was still a scribe in training, technically; to be commissioned meant his work was good enough for his status as an incompletely-trained scribe to be overlooked. She knew Adrestus was talented; both of his parents were intelligent individuals, and Adrestus himself was quite sharp beneath his playful exterior. He had once given her a medical scroll he'd transcribed once, sneaking it to her in the middle of the night. He'd done a beautiful job; he had no shortage of skill. "That's good, right?"

"Yeah," he said. "Very good." The tight line of his lips and the unexcited tone in his voice told her he didn't think it was good at all.

She stopped. So did he.

"Who was it for?" she asked. Adrestus hesitated for a moment.

"Pharaoh." Marineith's eyes widened as he continued. "He needed scribes for new... New hieroglyphs."

"You painted on the Pharaoh's walls?" she asked.

Adrestus pursed his lips.

"Not exactly." He glanced back down to her hands, then met her eyes again. "Your turn. Why the cat basket?"

She felt her face turn red as she shifted the basket in her hands, as if she could somehow make the cat embroideries vanish temporarily. This was so strange. So strange to be asked about... Well... Cat. And by Adrestus, of all people. It was surreal, in a way.

"What's not to like about cats?" she said. She was pretty proud of her quick-thinking; cats were worshiped across Egypt. There was no harm in liking cats.

Adrestus raised an eyebrow.

"But a black cat with green eyes?" Adrestus's green eyes flashed with something Marineith could only describe as mischief. "That's pretty specific for 'just cats.'"

Marineith bristled.

"It happened to have green eyes," she defended. "I didn't go looking for something so specific. The merchant, he gave it to me for free, and-"

"Okay, now you're really stretching it," Adrestus said, laughing. "Someone happened to have this kind of basket just lying around?"

"It's true," she puffed, frowning. At least Adrestus had laughter in his voice again. It was always unnerving when he didn't have that airy quality to his tone, and besides, his laughter comforted her.

"Okay," Adrestus said, shrugging. "But you still didn't answer my first question." He grinned wickedly. "You're avoiding it, actually."

She felt her cheeks go red. She _had_ been avoiding it; she didn't want to talk about this, not with him, not... But no, she needed to move on. Needed to move forward. She peered up into Adrestus's twinkling eyes, full of the same laughter that crept into his voice whenever he spoke. He was a dear friend to her, and his playful nature, though infuriating at times, had become something familiar and friendly, easy to relax around. And he cared for her and looked after her, had kept her company while Aria had been away on her journey.

Adrestus was one of her best friends. Maybe someday, she could tell him everything. About Ladybug and Cat Noir. If there was anyone she could trust with her secret, it would be him. But for now... Part of the truth wouldn't hurt, would it?

"Fine," she said. "I liked Cat Noir." As Adrestus started sniggering, she glared at him. "Most girls do, a little bit. He's handsome, and a hero."

"Okay," he said after recovering. "But wait. You said liked? As in, past tense?"

She sighed.

"I... It's complicated," she admitted.

"Have you met him?"

"Yes," she said.

"Well, then," Adrestus drawled, "I'm sure he likes you, too."

"No," she said softly. "He doesn't." It felt horrible to admit it, but she was relieved, too, because speaking to Adrestus was like the lifting of a fog, like the sunshine after a downpour, like the cool Nile waters against her toes after a long day under the scorching sun. Calming. Cool. And just what she needed. "He doesn't like me at all." She remembered their silent patrols the past week, of strained conversations and avoiding eye contact. "He might _dis_ like me, actually."

"What's not to like about you?" Adrestus asked. "You're smart, Marineith. So brilliant you're apprenticed under Pharaoh's head physician." He flashed her a bright grin. "You've got beautiful, black hair that shines like starlight under the sun." He reached over and trailed his fingers along the length of her arm; she shivered, and he leaned closer to her, close enough that she was reminded of that night when he whispered a spell in her ear, warm breath like a laugh on the wind. "Skin richer than bronze, and eyes bluer than the most rare desert oasis, and a smile so bright and lush that it puts the Nile to shame."

Her breath hitched, and Marineith was suddenly aware of how _close_ they were to one another, with his hand on her shoulder and a few mere inches between them. She'd never really noticed how toned Adrestus was, but with his chest and arms bare of their normal robes, she found it hard to miss. If she wanted to, she could count the golden flecks in his eyes, and it was a tempting idea, too...

He pulled back, breaking whatever had come over them then, and Marineith released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "You're a walking Goddess." He pat her shoulder twice. "I'm sure he's smitten. He probably just hasn't said anything."

Adrestus was being such a good friend, reassuring her like this. But he didn't know. He didn't know the way Cat had looked at her this past week, hadn't seen the pity in his eyes or the hesitation in his movements. He hadn't heard the silence that stretched between them, hadn't seen the distance Cat kept from her.

"He said plenty," she told him, looking into his green eyes. "Maybe I am all of that. But I'm missing something, or maybe I was just too slow..." She shifted the basket in her hands, trailed her thumb along one of the black cats. She needed ladybug luck to say her next words, because even though talking with Adrestus helped, she knew it would hurt. "He said he's in love with someone else. But that's okay."

Her words were sincere. If Cat was happy, then she couldn't complain. Besides, Adrestus was here, and Alya was right, and maybe she'd been swept off her feet a lot sooner than she'd thought. Adrestus' laughter echoed in the back of her mind, his hair against the sunset, and a smile pulled on her lips. What was it she'd said to Aria at the market earlier? _Someday, maybe._ "I need to move on, anyways."

She left while Adrestus was still confused by her words, and so she missed the ensuing look of realization that crossed his face as he watched her go, mouth open and golden-flecked eyes wide and flashing.

* * *

 **AN: An update, at long last! :) I've actually been sitting on this chapter for a while now. Sent it to a friend, and forgot to publish it. Oops.**

 **Have a good day, Miraculers!**

 **xoxoPigTails**


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